ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Parliamentary standing committee on Agriculture visited ICAR-CCARI Goa on 06.09.2021
Goa, 8 September 2021
A team of nine honourable Members of Parliament Chaired by Shri Parvatagouda Gaddigoudar along with officers of Lok Sabha secretariat and ADGs  of ICAR  Headquarters, visited Goa on 06.09.2021 for study of agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries research and development. The team visited experimental fields including coconut based cropping systems, coconut-heliconia, mango germplasm block of ICAR-CCARI , Ela Old Goa. The team also visited the exhibition stalls arranged in the campus and acquainted with various technologies of the institute and the extension activities of Krishi Vigyan Kendra of North Goa. The members interacted with the scientists and few progressive farmers during the visit.
Dr Parveen Kumar Director ICAR-CCARI presented the overview of the institute and its achievements in the form of improved varieties and other technologies and their impact on the sustainable livelihoods. The members of the team appreciated the work carried out at the institute and made suggestions to fine tune the research. They suggested working on getting geographical indicator  tagging of mankurad type mangoes of Goa. The team interacted with scientists on ways to promote economic returns in coconut by intercropping practices. The members suggested the easyharvest and spraying operations of coconuts by latest drone based techniques. The team emphasised the need for enhancing paddy productivity of Goa state by improved varieties.The committee suggested focusing the efforts of the scientists to improve the agriculture and allied sectors with the target to double the income of the farmers of the coastal region.ICAR-/VK/DR
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Ministry of Defence
‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’: iDEX-DIO signs 100th contract for defence innovation
iDEX , the flagship initiative of the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, ceremoniously embarked upon the milestone of signing its 100th contract on 26 July 2022.
iDEX framework was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2018 with the objective that it would provide the platform of co- creation and co-development in the Defence sector, and would engage start-ups to contribute to the defence sector and develop defence and aerospace setup in the country. iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation , established under Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence.
Within a short span of time iDEX, which has also been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Public Policy in Innovation Category for the year 2021, has emerged as a game changer in the Defence eco-system through its flagship programmes like Defence India Start-up Challenges , Prime and Open Challenges . iDEX has been able to build the required momentum and generate critical mass of start-ups in the defence sector.
Today, the 100th contract was signed by Additional Secretary  and CEO, DIO Shri Sanjay Jaju with CEO Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd Shri Saiprasad Poyarekar. The occasion was graced by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen BS Raju. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ajay Kumar said, “We are confident that iDEX will make India the biggest Defence Innovation Ecosystem in the world. For this, I would like to thank the tireless and continuous efforts and support from all the stakeholders, including the Services, the start-ups, partner incubators and the iDEX team.”
Till date, iDEX has launched iDEX Prime, seven rounds of DISC  and five rounds of OC, receiving more than 4,000 applications from individual innovators, MSMEs and start-ups. More than Rs 250 crore worth of projects have been allocated and procurement of 14 items worth over Rs 400 crore have been cleared. iDEX has also been able to generate thousands of jobs and attract India’s talent back to the country.
In the last four years, 17 start-ups in 14 projects have already been accorded the Acceptance of Necessity  by Defence Acquisition Council  for trial and procurement in March 2022. Projects from balance of DISC 1 & 2 and some from DISC 3 are nearing completion and may be accorded AoN by DAC by end of current Financial Year.
iDEX is working at path breaking pace to ensure that its agreements with the start-ups and innovators reach logical conclusions timely, eventually opening myriad of options for the budding, soon to be unicorns and also at the same time addressing the requirement of Services.
ABB/Savvy
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Ministry of Rural Development
About 30 crore mandays employment provided and more than Rs 27,000 crore spent so far in the pursuit of objectives of the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan
More than 1.14 lakh water conservation structures, about 3.65 lakh rural houses and nearly 10,500 community sanitary complexes among the assets created under the Abhiyaan
The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan  is taking action on mission mode to provide employment to migrant workers who have returned to their native villages of 6 states namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Abhiyaan is now empowering villagers with livelihood opportunities in 116 districts of these states.
By the 13th week a total of about 30 crore mandays employment has been provided and Rs 27,003 crore has been spent so far in the pursuit of objectives of the Abhiyaan. A large number of structures have been created including 1,14,344 water conservation structures, 3,65,075 rural houses, 27,446 cattle shed, 19,527 farm ponds, and 10,446 Community Sanitary Complex. 6727 works have been taken up through District Mineral Funds, 1,662 Gram Panchayat have been provided internet connectivity, a total of 17,508 works related to solid and liquid waste management undertaken, and 54,455 candidates have been provided skill training through Krishi Vigyan Kendras  during the Abhiyaan.
The Abhiyaan’s success so far can be seen as convergent efforts of 12 Ministries/Departments and State Governments, which are giving higher quantum of benefits to the migrant workers and rural communities.
GKRA was launched to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for migrant workers returning to villages and similarly affected citizens in rural area, in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. The stage is set for longer term action for a longer term initiative for jobs and livelihoods for those who chose to stay back.
Prime Minister's Office
PM praises Km. Diya, student of KV ONGC, Dehradun for sharing her self-composed poem on Examinations
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has praised Km. Diya, student of KV ONGC, Dehradun for sharing her self-composed poem on Examinations.
In response to a tweet by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, the Prime Minister said;
"Very creative! Stress free exams are the best exams. We shall discuss this and more during #ParikshaPeCharcha2023 on the 27th of this month."
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Further advance of southwest monsoon into remaining parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab is likely to be slow as large-scale features are not favourable and the forecast wind pattern by the numerical models do not indicate any favourable condition for sustained rainfall over the region during the forecast period
According to the National Weather Forecasting Centre of the India Meteorological Department:

ALL INDIA WEATHER SUMMARY AND FORECAST BULLETIN
- Further advance of southwest monsoon into remaining parts of Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab is likely to be slow as large-scale features are not favourable and the forecast wind pattern by the numerical models do not indicate any favourable condition for sustained rainfall over the region during the forecast period.
- Under the influence of a Low pressure area over southeast Uttar Pradesh & neighbourhood; fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls very likely over East Uttar Pradesh & Bihar during next 24 hours and significant reduction in rainfall activity thereafter.
- Under the influence of a Western Disturbance as a trough in mid tropospheric levels and monsoonal easterlies; widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls very likely over Uttarakhand during next 24 hours and significant reduction in rainfall activity thereafter.
Moderate to severe thunderstorms accompanied by frequent cloud to ground lightning very likely over East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during next 24 hours. This may cause injuries leading to casualties to people and animals staying outdoors.at most places over Uttarakhand, West Bengal & Sikkim, Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Konkan & Goa, Gujarat state, Chhattisgarh, Kerala & Mahe, Lakshadweep and Coastal & North Interior Karnataka; at many places over West Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, South Interior Karnataka; at a few places over Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan & Muzaffarabad, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Rajasthan, Marathawada, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Tamilnadu, Puducherry & Karaikal.
 & graphics forecast)
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Ministry of Finance
Auction for Sale  of  New GS 2032’,  ‘GoI Floating Rate Bond 2034’, and  ‘6.95%GS 2061’
The Government of India  has announced the Sale  of
 New Government Security, 2032’ for a notified amount of Rs 13,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method;  ‘‘GoI Floating Rate Bonds, 2034’ for a notified amount of Rs 4,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method; and  ‘6.95% Government Security 2061’ for a notified amount of Rs 7,000 crore  through price based auction using multiple price method. GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs 2,000 crore each against one or more security/ies. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on Friday i.e. January 14, 2022.
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the Securities will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution  system on January 14, 2022. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.00 a.m.and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.
The result of the auctions will be announced on January 14, 2022  and payment by successful bidders will be on January 17, 2022 .
The Securities will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2018-19/25 dated July 24, 2018 as amended from time to time.
NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog and CII Launch Partnership on SDGs
“Business & government partnership needs to be harnessed to achieve greater good”, -Raj Kumar Singh
Union Minister Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State , Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, mentioned that business and government must partner for sustainable development of India. He was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog and CII Partnership on SDGs, at the Government and Business Partnership Conclave in New Delhi on 8 August 2018, organised by NITI Aayog, Confederation of Indian Industry and UN.
The Minister said that in sustainable development three things matter the most: energy, water and circular economy/green industry. To action his 2022 agenda, he expressed confidence that India will achieve its clean energy goals even earlier than 2022 and urged everyone to be conscious and responsible towards the environment.
Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, in his address highlighted the high pace of urbanisation of India at a time when the countries such as USA and Europe are almost through with this process. Given our population, Shri Kant emphasised, the only way to grow and develop sustainably is to use technology to leapfrog: use new and renewable energy and push for R&D and innovation to generate demand for electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, etc. and to find local solutions for 7 million strong population around the world.’
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator, said that ‘conditions in India are favourable due to its nature, history and demography, to come up with solutions towards a sustainable and circular economy for the world to emulate.’
Shri Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President CII, and Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Ltd stressed that the current theme of CII 2018-19 ‘India RISE: Responsible. Inclusive. Sustainable.’ is aligned with the sustainability agenda.
Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, mentioned that CII’s nine Centres of Excellence are well-aligned to the SDGs.
CII-NITI Aayog have entered into a three-year partnership and an MoU was signed. This partnership focuses on specific activities that seeks to develop: 1. Vision and Action Agenda for businesses and industries to contribute to SDGs; 2. Annual Status Reports; 3. Sector-specific Best Practise Documents. On this occasion Dr Ashok Kumar Jain, Adviser, NITI Aayog, spoke about the partnership and welcomed CII for innovative initiatives going forward.
CII launched the report—Indian Solutions for the World to Achieve SDGs. The report deep-dives into each of the SDGs, targets and business implications thereof. The report cites examples that illustrate how companies have incorporated the SDGs framework into their business strategy and gone about achieving them.
Distinguished Participants in the Conclave included senior officials from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and representatives of several State governments like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
Ministry of Mines
Details of Amount Collected & Activities Under District Mineral Foundation Funds
Till December 2021, ₹ 57,411 crore has been collected under District Mineral Foundation  in the country. Details are in Annexure - I
The Central Government under Section 20A of the MMDR Act has issued directions and circulated guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra KalyanYojna  on 16.09.2015 to be implemented by the District Mineral Foundations  for taking up development and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas. Further, Section 9B and Section 15 of MMDR Act empowers State Governments to frame rules for regulating the composition, functions and working of the District Mineral Foundations in the State. Therefore, the complaints with respect to the utilization of DMF funds are addressed by the respective State Governments.
As per the guidelines, instruction have been issued to the DMFs for identification of affected areas and people to be covered under the PMKKKY scheme and spend at least 60% of the funds on High Priority areas  and up to 40% on Other Priority Activities. The guidelines also envisage annual audit of the DMF funds to ensures that these funds are being utilized as per DMF rules framed by the respective State Governments. Additionally, as per PMKKKY guidelines, every year, the DMF has to prepare an Annual Report within three months from the date of closure of the financial year, on its activities for the respective financial year and place it before the State Legislative Assembly.
Further, the Mines and Minerals  Amendment Act, 2021 which came into effect on 28.03.2021 empowers the Central Government to issue directions to the State Governments with respect to composition and functions of DMF. Accordingly Central Government has issued order on 23.04.2021 to all the States to include MPs, MLAs and MLCs in the Governing Council of the DMF in larger public interest.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Import of Crude Oil Substitute
The details of month wise crude oil import quantity and value during the year 2018-19 are given below:
|
|
CRUDE OIL IMPORT QUANTITY AND VALUE DURING THE YEAR 2018-19
|
|
|
|
QUANTITY
|
|
VALUE
|
|
|
|
MMT
|
|
US $ 
|
|
` crore
|
|
April, 2018
|
|
17.3
|
|
8.3
|
|
54774
|
|
May, 2018
|
|
20.0
|
|
10.2
|
|
68799
|
|
June, 2018
|
|
19.5
|
|
10.2
|
|
69746
|
|
July, 2018
|
|
19.6
|
|
10.3
|
|
71013
|
|
August, 2018
|
|
18.6
|
|
9.8
|
|
69055
|
|
September, 2018
|
|
17.9
|
|
9.8
|
|
70493
|
|
October, 2018
|
|
21.1
|
|
11.7
|
|
84902
|
|
November, 2018
|
|
17.0
|
|
8.3
|
|
59275
|
|
December, 2018
|
|
19.5
|
|
8.4
|
|
59455
|
|
January, 2019
|
|
19.7
|
|
8.3
|
|
58811
|
|
February, 2019
|
|
17.1
|
|
7.7
|
|
54282
|
|
March, 2019
|
|
19.2
|
|
8.9
|
|
62578
|
|
Total 2018-19
|
|
226.5
|
|
111.9
|
|
783183
Government has notified National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 which inter-alia aims to promote/increase blending of biofuels from domestic sources in petrol and diesel to address environment issues and reduce imports.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
During April-September 2017-18, Growth in Services Exports and Services Imports Robust at 16.2 Per Cent and 17.4 Per Cent Respectively
India remained the eighth largest exporter in commercial services in the world in 2016 with share of 3.4 per cent. This is double the share of India’s merchandise exports in the world at 1.7 percent, as put forth in the Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in the Parliament today by the Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley. India’s services sector registered an export growth of 5.7 per cent in 2016-17. During the period April-September 2017-18, growth in services exports and services imports were robust at 16.2 per cent and 17.4 per cent respectively. Net services receipts rose by 14.6 per cent during this period. Net surplus in the services financed, about 49 per cent of India’s merchandise deficit in H1 of 2017-18.
To boost services exports, the Survey mentions that the Government in its mid-term Review of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, has increased incentives under Services Exports from India Schemes  by 2 per cent, leading to an additional annual incentive of Rs.1,140 crore which could help services exports including Hotel & Restaurant, Hospital, Educational services etc. Although world trade volume of goods and services is projected to accelerate in 2018, enhanced global uncertainty, protectionism and stricter migration rules would be key factors in shaping India’s services exports.
Ministry of Finance
Auction for Sale  of ’7.38% GS 2027’,  ‘7.26% GS 2032’,  ‘7.36% GS 2052’
The Government of India  has announced the sale  of  “7.38% Government Security 2027” for a notified amount of ₹7,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method,  “7.26% Government Security 2032” for a notified amount of ₹12,000 crore  through price based auction using uniform price method and  “7.36% Government Security 2052” for a notified amount of ₹9,000 crore  through price based auction using multiple price method. GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs. 2,000 crore against each security mentioned above. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on December 23, 2022 .
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the securities will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution  system on December 23, 2022. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.
The result of the auctions will be announced on December 23, 2022  and payment by successful bidders will be on December 26, 2022 .
The Securities will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2018-19/25 dated July 24, 2018 as amended from time to time.
Prime Minister's Office
Those who need the vaccine the most will get it first: PM
India is guided by human-centric approach in its vaccination campaign: PM
Cautions the people to keep their guard up and follow vaccine protocol
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said that India’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign is based on very humane and important principles. Those who need the vaccine the most will get it first. Those who are at the maximum risk of getting infected will be vaccinated first. He said, our doctors, nurses, hospital sanitation workers and para-medical staff will have the first right to get vaccinated. This priority is available to the medical hospitals in both public and private sectors. The Prime Minister was speaking after launching the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing today.
After the medical staff, the Prime Minister said, the members of essential services, and those responsible for country’s security and law and order will be vaccinated. Our security forces, police personnel, fire brigade, sanitation workers will be given priority. This number will be nearly 3 crore and Government of India will bear the expense of their vaccination, said the Prime Minister.
While elaborating on the robust arrangements for the drive, the Prime Minister cautioned the people to be careful about not missing taking two doses. He said that there will be a gap of one month between the doses. He asked people to keep their guards up even after taking the vaccine as only two weeks after taking the second dose, human body will develop necessary immunity against Corona.
Shri Modi requested the countrymen to show the same patience at the time of vaccination as they showed throughout the fight against Corona.
Ministry of Mines
USE OF FUNDS IN District Mineral Fund
As per sub-section  and  of Section 9B of the MMDR Act State Government are empowered to make rules prescribing composition and functions of the District Mineral Foundation. However, the Union Government has circulated Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna  guidelines on 16.09.2015 to be incorporated in the DMF rues framed by the State Government.
The Mines and Minerals  Amendment Act, 2021 which came into effect on 28.03.2021 empowers the Central Government to issue directions to the State Governments with respect to composition and functions of DMF. Accordingly Central Government has issued order on 23.04.2021 to all the States to include MPs, MLAs and MLCs in the Governing Council of DMF in the larger public interest.
This information was given by Minister of Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.